The International Conference on Nature-based Solutions: Addressing Climate Change

The International Conference on Nature-based Solutions: Addressing Climate Change

The International Conference on Nature-based Solutions: Addressing Climate Change, jointly initiated by Peking University, IUCN, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University，the Innovation Base of the Asia Centre for Nature-based Solutions, and multiple partner institutions from China and abroad, will be held in Beijing on 19–20 September 2026.

At a critical moment when the world is jointly confronting climate change, biodiversity loss, and broader sustainability challenges, the second International Conference on Nature-based Solutions aims to bring together leading scientists from multiple disciplines, policymakers, practitioners, businesses, and community representatives from around the globe to explore and advance actionable pathways for Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The conference seeks to strengthen climate solutions grounded in NbS through interdisciplinary dialogue：enhancing climate resilience by protecting and restoring forests and wetlands, planning green infrastructure to address urban flooding and improve human well-being, and promoting the ‘doughnut economy’and embedded sustainability frameworks to achieve tiered synergies across ecological, social, and economic dimensions.

We firmly believe that advancing Nature-based Solutions is not only about placing nature at the center of decision-making, but also about identifying pathways that simultaneously deliver ecological benefits, social co-benefits, and economic value. The conference explores how NbS can be operationalised as integrated pathways to deliver climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity recovery, and nature-positive economic transformation. Through this convening, we aim to build international consensus, share cutting-edge knowledge and successful practices, and catalyze more ambitious collaborative commitments and action agendas, thereby laying a solid foundation for a resilient future in which people and nature coexist in harmony.

The conference will also include site visits to Nature-based Solutions projects in Beijing. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions on how NbS can be integrated into infrastructure development and renewal, addressing challenges that conventional approaches have struggled to resolve.

Organizers

Host

Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Co-organizers (to be updated)

IUCN（International Union for Conservation of Nature）

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)

The Innovation Center of Nature-based Solutions Asian Hub

Climate Resilience Committee, Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture

Beautiful China & Landscape Architecture Committee, Chinese Society for Urban Studies

Nanjing Forestry University

Conference co-chairs (Sort by last name)

Mr. Karangwa Charles, Global Head of Nature-based Solutions Centre at IUCN

Prof. Yuhong Wang, Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Prof. Zhifang Wang, Vice Dean, College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University

Dr. Laura Wendling, Deputy Director, Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), University of East London, UK

Conference Advisory Committee Members (Sort by last name)

Dr. Erik Andersson, Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki

Prof. Wendy Y Chen, The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Stuart Connop, Director, Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London

Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Chair Professor, Director, Research Institute for Land and Space, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Prof. Hong He, Director, the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Prof. Thanasis Kizos, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Greece

Prof. Raffaele Lafortezza, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ITALY

Prof. Dihua Li, Vice Dean, College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University

Prof. Junqi Li, Vice President, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture

Prof. Jiahong Liu, Professor-level Senior Engineer, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research

Dr. Ming Luo, Executive Director, Nature-based Solutions Asian Hub

Dr. Siobhan McQuaid, Professor, Trinity College Dublin / Horizon NUA

Mr. Feng Tian, Director, Shanghai Construction Land and Land Consolidation Affairs Center; Director, Nature-based Solutions Shanghai Hub

Prof. Riccardo Valentini, Director of the Division of Climate Impact at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Changes

Prof. Cheng Wang, Research Fellow, Chinese Academy of Forestry

Dr. Pengbin Wang, Nature-based Solutions Advisor, Nature-based Solution Management Hub, IUCN

Prof. Xiangrong Wang, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University

Prof. Qihao Weng, Chair Professor, Director, Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Prof. Hehua Zhu, Distinguished Professor, Tongji University; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Prof. Zunling Zhu, Professor, Dean, College of Art & Design, Nanjing Forestry University

Important Dates

Conference Location

Peking University, Beijing, China

Conference themes and sessions

(including but not limited to)

Theme 1: Enabling Policy ,Governance and actions for NbS

User and policy needs in support of effective NbS implementation

Challenges and opportunities to scaling up NbS

New theories and methods for NbS

NbS: reconnecting people and nature

Climate-resilient planning and design strategies

Interdisciplinary exploration of NbS, research and practice

Theme 2: Ecological Foundations ,Biodiversity and Resilience

Rewilding nature and biodiversity enhancement

NbS for ecological restoration

NbS and Low-Carbon Cities

NbS and Sponge City

NBS as resilient infrastructure

NbS in Extreme Climate Events

Theme 3: Monitoring, Evaluation and Decision-Support systems

Monitoring and evaluation of NbS

 Earth observations for ecosystem, infrastructure, and city

 Spatial big data for ecosystem, infrastructure, and city

Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) for nature-based solutions

Theme 4: Societal Transformation and Nature-Positive Economy

NbS for livable and healthy environment

Integrating NbS into Corporate ESG Strategies and Implementation Projects

 NbS and social governance

Social transformation in response to climate change

NbS Strategies for the Doughnut Economy

Conference Journals

Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability

《生态学报》（Acta Ecologica Sinica）

《中国城市林业》（Journal of Chinese Urban Forestry）

《景观设计学（中英文）》（Landscape Architecture Frontiers）

Contact Information

Mingbo Zhou

Phone: 010-62750655

Email: 674221088@qq.com